Light fixtures with light bulbs mounted thereto have existed for many years. Oftentimes, light fixtures are utilized in cold environments such as walk in refrigerators and freezers to provide light. However, today's governmental regulations requires that lighting used in commercial refrigeration meets stringent lumen per watt efficiency standards. The standards virtually eliminate previously used incandescent light bulbs under normal conditions because they are inefficient generators of light and they create a large amount of heat in the refrigerated space.
As such, refrigerated spaces are now provided with enclosed and gasket water proof incandescent fixtures with a translucent cover, oftentimes referred to as “jelly jar” covers. A compact florescent bulb (CFL) is currently utilized with these fixtures. However, these CFL bulbs suffer from problems relating to their placement within cold environments such as refrigerated spaces. For example, these refrigerated CFL bulbs take several minutes to warm up enough to produce light. Also, a refrigerated CFL bulb is very inefficient and at −20 degrees Fahrenheit may make less than 10% output when energized. Another problem associated with CFL bulbs in refrigerated spaces stems from the fact that the light fixtures are typically positioned over the door leading into the refrigerated space. This positioning of the light fixtures means that the bulb must project light outwardly from its end to illuminate the far end of the refrigerated space. A CFL bulb however does not project light very well in this direction due to the configuration of the CFL bulb and therefor the far end of the refrigerated space distal the door may not be properly illuminated. Lastly, CFL bulbs include mercury which may be harmful to the environment when improperly disposed.
In an effort to overcome the problems associated with incandescent and CFL lights designers are now utilizing LED lights in cold room environments. However, a problem with LED lights is that they are typically enclosed within a housing to protect them from the cold room environment. The enclosing of the LED lights leads to another problem which is that the LED lights do not have an efficient way of dissipating heat which causes damage to the LEDs. As such, during the construction of the cold space or during times when the cold space is not cooled, the use of the LED lights leads to an overheating of the light and damage to the LED lights. Another problem with LED lights is that the LED diodes or light elements are susceptible to being harmed if they are contacted by a person.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for an LED light fixture which may be placed in a refrigerated space without overheating and which restricts direct access of the LED light elements. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.